Improvement in can-openers



0. MKWILLIIAMS.

' Can-Opener.

No 198,959. Patented Jan. 8 I878 BNIWIJJUIWU I l I i INVENTUKUNITEDSTATES PATENT FIoE.

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'IMPROVEMENT IN CAN-OPENERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 198,959, dated J anuary8, 1878; application filed December 4, 1877.

To all whom itmayv concern:

Be it known that I, CHAS. M. WILLIAMS,

of Bethel, in the county of Bath and State of Kentucky, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Gan-Openers; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itpertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, which form part of this specification.

hereinafter more fully described. and claimed.

The accompanying drawings represent my invention. j

. a represents the base, from one end of which rises the round standardb, which has a shoulder formed near its lower end. Fitting upon thisstandard is the slide 0, to which the operating mechanism of the openeris attached,

and which is provided with a thumb-screw, d,

by means of which the slide may be retained in any desired position onthe standard. .From the upper end of the slide 0 extends the horizontalarm 0, through the outer end of which a mortise is out, and secured inthis mortise is the square upright standard f, which rises above the arm6, and has a slot, 71, cut in it, extending nearly its entire height,toreceive a bolt for securing it to the operating-lever. This standardfterminates in its lower end in a pressure-foot, g, the use of whichwill be more fully described hereinafter. On one side of this horizontalarm e are formed two projecting studs, across which extends a thin metalstrip, t, between which strip and the studs the knife 70 passes. Theupper end of the knife is secured in a. slot in the under side of thelever l by means of a bolt, which passes through the lever, the knife,and the slot h in the standard f, the bolt being held by means of athumb-screw on theouter end. The lower end of the knife is guided by theslide on into a groove, in which one side of the knife extends. Thelever l is secured to the slide 0 by means of the connecting-rod n, asshown.

The operation of my invention is as follows: Having placed the machinein a suitable position,'the lever l is raised to its full height,

and the thumb-screw in the slot h is tight- I ened, so as to keep thelever from descending. The screw 61 of the slide 0 is then loosened, soas to let the slide move freely up or down on the standard b, and thecan to be opened is placed firmly on the base a. The slide 0 is thenlowered until the pressure-foot g rests firmly on the top of the can.The nut is then tightened on the standard by means of the thumb-screw d,the screw which holds the knife is sufficiently loosened, and the leveris brought down with a firm stroke, forcing the knife deep into the can.One such stroke is v usually sufficient-to make an incision large enoughto enable the can to be opened without any further trouble; but whereseveral strokes are required, the slide 0 is adjusted so that thepressure-foot g rests at some little distance abovethe can, thusenabling the can to beturned around by the fingers after each stroke.

In order to adapt my invention to the opening of all kinds of cans, ofwhatever form, I have provided for it different kinds of knives, whichIwill proceed to describe in detail. I

No. 1 represents a lance-point knife, which has two cutting-edgesconverging to a point, forming an angle of about sixty-four degrees.

No. 2 is a straight-bevel knife, whose cutting-edgeis on an angle ofabout forty-five dedegrees.

No. 3 is a lance-point gouge-knife, shaped exactly like No. 1, with theexception that its cutting-edges are curved.

No. 4. is a double lance-point knife, having its cutting-edges shapedlike the letter W, the projecting portions beyond the points beingturned back at right angles to the shank, as shown.

The points of all my knives are shaped like the point of a brad-awl, andthe cutting-edges are sharpened to any desired extent.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- The base a, standard 12,slide 0, arm 6, square standard f, pressure-foot g, slide m,- and 0011-necting-rod n, in combination with the operating-lever l and knife in,the whole being 00nstrueted substantially in the manner and for thepurpose described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing; I have hereunto set my handthis 28th day of November, 1877.

CHARLES MONROE WILLIAMS.

Witnesses:

L. D. WILLIAMS, T. O. WILLIAMS.

